1. Technical Field
This invention relates to manmade beehives. Specifically this invention relates to a movable top entrance for a beehive.
2. Background Art
Manmade beehives are well known. FIG. 1 shows an example of a prior art manmade standard beehive 10. The beehive 10 includes a bottom board 12, a brood chamber 14, a queen excluder 16, a honey super 18, an inner cover 20, and a top cover 22. The bottom board 12 includes hive entrance holes 30 which provide a passage for honeybees into and out of the beehive 10. Both the brood chamber 14 and the honey super 18 include a plurality of honeycomb frames 24, 26. The queen honeybee generally resides in the brood chamber 14 and spends the majority of her time laying eggs in the honeycombs of frames 24. Excess honey is generally stored by the worker honeybees in one or more honey supers 18 located above the brood chamber 14.
Although the prior art standard beehive 10 has been in use for over a hundred years, the configuration of the bottom board has a number of drawbacks. For example, as grass, weeds or other vegetation grows adjacent the bottom of the beehive foliage may cover the holes 30 making it more difficult for worker honeybees to enter or leave the beehive. During the winter months snow may accumulate adjacent the holes 30 of the bottom board, which may lead to suffocation of the honeybees in the beehive. In addition, dead honeybees within the beehive 10 may accumulate adjacent the holes 30 of the bottom board which may block the holes from within the hive and lead to suffocation of the honeybees. Consequently there exists a need for a new configuration of a beehive which is operative to reduce the opportunity for entrance holes to the beehive to become covered or blocked by vegetation, snow, and the accumulation of dead bees and other debris within the beehive.
In addition, honeybees in prior art beehives are susceptible to being eaten by small animals. For example, animals such as skunks may wait adjacent the bottom board 12 of the beehive and feed on honeybees as they leave the beehive. Consequently there exists a further need for a configuration of a beehive which is operative to reduce the opportunity for predator animals to eat honeybees adjacent a beehive.
In prior art beehives, the queen excluder 16 includes a wire grid which enables worker honeybees but prevents the queen bee from moving between the brood chamber 14 and the honey supers 18. This feature keeps the queen honeybee in the brood chamber 14 and prevents her from laying eggs in the honey supers 18. Unfortunately the wires of the queen excluder 16 can injure worker honeybees as they pass therebetween. As a result, there exists a need for a beehive configuration which is operative to prevent the queen honeybee from moving between the brood chamber and the honey supers and is operative to minimize injury to worker honeybees.
It is an object of the exemplary form of the present invention to provide a beehive.
It is a further object of the exemplary form of the present invention to provide a beehive which minimizes the blockage of an entrance to the beehive.
It is a further object of the exemplary form of the present invention to provide a beehive which minimizes the blockage of an entrance to the beehive by vegetation growing adjacent the beehive.
It is a further object of the exemplary form of the present invention to provide a beehive which minimizes the blockage of an entrance to the beehive by snow.
It is a further object of the exemplary form of the present invention to provide a beehive which minimizes the blockage of an entrance to the beehive by dead honeybees.
It is a further object of the exemplary form of the present invention to provide a beehive which minimizes the opportunity for animals to eat honeybees leaving or entering the beehive.
It is a further object of the exemplary form of the present invention to provide a beehive which minimizes injuries to worker bees moving between the brood chamber and the honey supers.
Further objects of the present invention will be made apparent in the following Detailed Description of the Invention and the appended claims.
The foregoing objects are accomplished in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention by a beehive that does not include a bottom board and a queen excluder. The exemplary beehive includes a movable top entrance positioned above the brood chamber. For an established hive the exemplary beehive structure may include a movable top entrance between the brood chamber and one or more honey supers. The exemplary embodiment of the movable top entrance includes an outer frame with a size and shape that is operative to mate with the top of a brood chamber and the bottom of a honey super. The exemplary movable top entrance includes a baffle within the interior portion of the outer frame which is operative to prevent the queen honeybee from moving between the brood chamber and a honey super. The exemplary movable top entrance further includes slots adjacent the outer frame surfaces and the baffle which provide a passageway for worker honeybees to pass between the brood chamber and the honey super.
In the exemplary embodiment, the baffle further includes a cavity adjacent an aperture through one side of the outer frame. The aperture serves as an entrance for honeybees to leave and enter the beehive. The cavity in the baffle provides Page sufficient space for worker bees to move either below the baffle and into the brood chamber or above the baffle and into a honey super. The exemplary movable top entrance further includes a landing plate extending downward from the outside frame below the aperture. The landing plate provides a base for honeybees to land and crawl along as they fly into or out of the beehive.
The exemplary beehive of the present invention further includes a base beneath the brood chamber. In one exemplary embodiment the base includes a slidable tray. In a closed position the tray is operative to seal the bottom of the beehive. By sliding the tray to an open position, dead honeybees and other debris may be cleaned out of the bottom of the beehive.